Aloy's historic blasts punctuate Razorbacks win over Creighton

Hogs homer their way past Bluejays to advance to Fayetteville Regional final in powerful fashion

Arkansas Razorbacks Charles Davalan and Wehiwa Aloy celebrate after a homer against the Creighton Bluejays in the NCAA Regional in Fayetteville, Ark. / Nilsen Roman-Hogs on SI Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas shortstop Wehiwa Aloy made history with his 19th and 20th homers of the season to lead the Razorbacks to a 12-1 win over Creighton to advance to the regional final.

"We played a complete game," coach Dave Van Horn said. "Zach [Root] pitched great. We played good defense and obviously got some timely hits, hit some home runs."

Aloy crossed a threshold that few in Hogs' history have entered. He is just the seventh player in school history to hit 20 bombs in a season.

Wehiwa's 20th homer was MAJESTIC pic.twitter.com/K34nEvThic

— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) June 1, 2025

He's the first Hog in eight years to achieve the mark and the first since Chad Spanberger in 2017.

"I saw a lot of built-up frustration in that swing," Van Horn said. "He absolutely tomahawked it. That’s basically what he did. He clubbed it."

Arkansas functioned as the road team in the NCAA Regional, with the game technically being neutral site, despite being played at Baum-Walker Stadium.

Plenty of other Razorbacks joined in on the homer party. Catcher Ryder Helfrick, who continues his ascension up the order into the cleanup spot, homered in back-to-back at-bats.

First pitch of the 6th inning...

ANNIHILATED BY RYDER 🤟 pic.twitter.com/qCzl5d2zAo

— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) June 1, 2025

Second baseman Cam Kozeal continued his hot start with his second homer in as many days as part of another multi-hit day. His solo shot opened the scoring in the top of the second.

Five homers as a team was coupled with sterling starting pitching from Root. For Root, it was personal redemption, who was part of the 2024 East Carolina team that lost to the No. 4 seed in the region, Evansville.

"Last year we hosted a regional and we didn’t get out of it," Root said. "We’re in a great spot right now, so let’s just keep going tomorrow."

Root needed just 94 pitches to get through six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts, holding the Bluejays to just three hits. No runner reached third base while Root was on the mound.

Root ends the 3rd with his second ꓘ pic.twitter.com/Zcx22XrITm

— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) June 1, 2025

Arkansas needed Root to shut down the Bluejays as the team jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, but left eight runners on through the first four innings. The Hogs left the bases loaded twice in the second and the fourth.

The Hogs had no problem getting baserunners against Creighton freshman starter Wilson Magers, but struggled to get a big hit until Aloy's tomahawk homer.

In the previous two winner's bracket games for Arkansas, the starter allowed 14 runs combined and set the dominoes in motion that eventually ended the season.

Creighton broke the shutout in the seventh with an RBI fielder's choice off the bat of Tate Gillen in the seventh when Ben Bybee took over and pitched an inning.

Steele Eaves and Colin Fisher pitched a scoreless inning each to finish the game.

Arkansas advances to the regional final 8 p.m. Sunday and awaits the winner of Creighton and North Dakota State at 2 p.m. North Dakota State eliminated Kansas 4-3 earlier in the day.

Whoever faces the Razorbacks in the final will have to beat the Hogs twice to advance. A TV schedule has not been announced.

Arkansas Razorbacks pitcher Zach Root delivers against the Creighton Bluejays in an NCAA Regional at Baum-Walker Stadium / Nilsen Roman-Hogs on SI Images

News and Notes:

Shortie but goldie:
Aloy is often known for his majestic homers that often travel over 450 feet, but his first homer in the fifth that blew the game open was just 362 feet on a pitch nearly at his head. It was the fifth shortest hit in his Razorback career of his 34 bombs.

"I’ve been kind of too aggressive in the beginning of the at bat," Aloy said. "But just trusting my bat-to-ball skills and just kind of swinging and it went over the fence."

Walkin to Victory:
For the first 13 innings of Arkansas' regional, not much offensive production came outside of Kozeal. First baseman Reese Robinett provided some nice at-bats out of the No. 8 spot in both games.

After setting up a run with a key walk in yesterday's game, he drew three more walks and added an RBI single to set the table for the top of the lineup.

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